


Skeleton of Stone, Heart of Burning Bone

by a7r0p0s



Series: You're A Hurricane [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, mako ships chaleigh and no one will ever convince me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 08:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a7r0p0s/pseuds/a7r0p0s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck has a hard time dealing.<br/>Raleigh tries to help.<br/>It almost goes according to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skeleton of Stone, Heart of Burning Bone

**Author's Note:**

> AU where Chuck breaks his arm instead of Herc, so Herc has to pilot Striker with Stacker. Everything else is the same.  
> Unbeta'd, so I apologize in advance.

Raleigh is trying to keep his distance, honestly, but he becomes more and more concerned with the state of Chuck's head by the day. Chuck was just starting to sort of respect him a friendly smile or two shared between them, but now the kid spends all his days alone, or watching the empty Jaeger bays, or training in the kwoon (never with a partner though, everyone’s too scared to go in and piss him off, and whenever someone does brave it, chuck just packs up and leaves without a word anyway).

So Raleigh starts trying to do little things. 

He finds Chuck on the catwalk overlooking where Striker and Gipsy and Cherno and Crimson once stood, like he’d gone there to brood above everyone, but the fact that he hadn’t slept in almost three days caught up with him and apparently he just sort of slid sideways and is out like a rock on the hard metal grating. So Raleigh takes his own pillow and slips it under Chuck’s head, then takes his own blanket from his bed and tucks it around Chuck’s shoulders as much as he can without waking him.

Chuck wakes up several hours later very confused, because suddenly he’s got a pillow and a blanket that aren’t his, and maybe it makes him a little mad. Mostly, though, he’s only embarrassed that someone saw him passed out there.

He goes back to his room to brood more, but sleep wins again (because the mystery blanket, of course. He’d never admit it, but even though it’s really old and worn looking, it’s obviously clean and it actually kinda smells nice and it’s really warm). Mako wakes him with a start after several more hours, knocking on the door to bring him food. She says it's because no one saw him eat all day yesterday, and he realizes that it’s because he actually forgot to. He thanks Mako, but she just shakes her head and says:

“You are very welcome, Chuck, but it wasn’t my idea.” And then she leaves, and he wonders what the fuck that meant, but he eats it anyway. 

There is a moment, when he's reaching for the tray, where his hand freezes as he notices that someone put two pudding cups on the tray. You see, normally the mess only gave each person one, but he would usually get two because his dad hated them but would get one anyway and toss it onto his son’s tray, pretending to be disgusted. This was largely understood by all who knew them to be due to the fact that, apparently, neither one of the Hansens was capable of saying the words 'I love you'.

Several weeks later, wandering the halls of the Shatterdome aimlessly, unable to sleep despite his mystery blanket, and Max trotting at his heels, he hears what sounds like Raleigh yelling angrily in a hallway. Curiosity gets the best of him, but when he arrives and sees, or rather hears, what is happening, he stops cold. Raleigh is livid, face red and heated with anger, two younger techs cowering and looking small like children before the entity of rage Raleigh has become. He hears all but the beginning of the man's tirade:

_“...‘_ _fuckin crazy old dude_ _’ is the reason you’re not a goddamn_ _shitstain_ _in a kaiju’s asshole right now so shut the fuck up and respect the men who died so miserable little fucking_ _cunts_ _like you could live on to poison this fucking shit planet with your goddamn stupidity!”_

Chuck is unable to move, not quite processing his emotions properly at the moment. He doesn't quite know why, though. Why his hands are shaking and his pulse is rising. Why he feels like he's going to explode. 

Raleigh finally notices Chuck, the fight leaving him as his whole body sags under the realization of what's happening. The techs run for their lives because they know what an armed warhead looks like, and this looks suspiciously like one. 

Raleigh notices Chuck's clenched fists shaking, and it makes him nervous because he doesn't know if it means Chuck's going to cry or kill someone, but Chuck turns away and begins to walk.

Raleigh, never being one to make the smart move over the one he wants, performs the second most regrettable “grab the person's arm to turn him around and talk” maneuver of his life. Chuck doesn’t even wait to be fully turned, he just swings with the turn and his left fist connects directly with Raleigh’s cheek, bringing him down. Chuck only vaguely realizes something in his hand is broken, but he pays no attention to it. Raleigh looks terrified and a little dazed, and Chuck is yelling, but he’s not fully conscious of the words coming out of his mouth. All he knows is he’s fucking pissed and he’s dizzy from it and it feels like coming up for air and he can’t stop, doesn't know if he wants to stop.

He uses his good hand to lift Raleigh up to a sitting position and straddles him to get in his face, but Raleigh's face is no longer displaying fear, just an odd concern. Chuck hits him again. And again. And now Raleigh is talking and Chuck is still yelling, but Chuck realizes Raleigh’s not fighting back, and he finally listens and all he can hear is “-this is what you need, then just fucking do it, I can’t see you hurt like this anymore, Chuck.”

And it makes him more angry, but he can’t feel good about hitting someone who won’t fight back, so he keeps yelling at Raleigh to fight, to punch, to kick, to do anything, but Raleigh won’t. He just sits there, face swelling and cut in several places, tears escaping one eye that might be blackened in a few minutes.

There's a noticeable drip of liquid from his chin to Raleigh's shirt, and he suddenly realizes there have been tears streaming down his face for a while, and there are spots where his tears have made little dark wet spots on Raleigh’s shirt scattered amongst all the blood droplets. He's not yelling or moving anymore, he’s just breathing, heavy and shaky, and his fist is gripped in Raleigh’s shirt like he needs an anchor. And suddenly he’s just really fucking tired, and he drops his head to rest on Raleigh’s chest. He lets out this solitary, quiet moan that just might be the most broken sound Raleigh’s ever heard, and everyone but them leaves because it’s not entertaining anymore. This isn't a hurricane, it's just a disaster.

Raleigh can feel the front of his shirt getting soaked as Chuck sits there, shaking softly with silent sobs. He decides, because it will either be the best or the worst decision he makes today, to take a risk and reaches up to put his arms around Chuck, who unexpectedly melts into the embrace rather than pulling away like Raleigh thought he would. 

When the shaking stops, and chuck finally gets up and pushes away to a sitting position against the wall, he can’t quite look up and meet Raleigh’s eyes, and he mutters a quiet “God dammit.” and a soft “Get the fuck away from me” when Raleigh tries to speak, so Raleigh leaves and goes back to his room without a word.

Only a few hours later, however, there is a knock on Raleigh's door. When he opens it, he finds Chuck looking like he either kicked a puppy or is the kicked puppy, and Raleigh can't decide which is the sadder mental image, but he invites the Aussie in and they sit for a few minutes in silence before Chuck finally speaks.

“I'm sorry.”

“Chuck, you don't have to-”

“Shut the fuck up for a second. I'm sorry I was an asshole. Everyone knows I was, I always have been. No one knows that better than me and my old man. But I've been really bad lately, especially to you.”

“Yeah.” There's no spite in Raleigh's acknowledgment. No accusation. “Hitting me didn't help, did it?”

Chuck shakes his head.

“No. I shouldn't have-”

“No, it's fine. I kinda asked for it. You were gonna walk away. Besides, sometimes you gotta pull the trigger to see if the round is live. Or... something like that. I don't really know where I was going with that.”

“No, you didn't deserve that. I... you helped. The blanket was you, right? And the pudding?”

Raleigh looks at the ground, sheepish, but he nods. They're both silent for a moment.

“Thanks.”

Raleigh just makes a 'mmh' sound in agreement.

“I never really hated you.”

“Could've fooled me.” He huffed out the beginning of a laugh.

“I said I was sorry.”

“I know. And I forgave you.”

Another few moments in silence.

“I'm pretty sure I've loved you since I was fifteen.”

“... what?”

Chuck looked at Raleigh, skeptical.

“Gipsy Danger? The Becket Brothers? When I made ranger, no one was talking about anything but you and Gipsy. You and your brother were goddamn rockstars. I had posters of you by my fuckin' bed, mate.” He laughs as an embarrassed blush tints his cheeks, and Raleigh can't help but feel a little caught in that smile, but the smile turns flat again.

“I guess I was a little mad at you too. When you got here... it just reminded me of what I lost.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were real. You ran away.” He sighs wearily. “I cried that day. When Knifehead came through, when they found you and Gipsy's wreckage on the beach and you ran, I cried. I don't why, but it felt like you lied to me. Rangers were supposed to be heroes. They weren't supposed to be... people.”

Raleigh stayed silent.

“Then... you got here, and you got paired up with Mako, and you were drift compatible, and... maybe I was a little jealous.”

“That I got to drift with Mako?”

“Uh, more that _she_ got to drift with _you_.”

“Oh.”

“Seven fuckin' years. What am I, a fuckin teenager?”

“Still not over me, eh?” Raleigh elbowed him and smirked.

“Fuck off, mate. Not like it matters.”

“It always matters.”

“Not anymore, it doesn't. You have Mako now.”

“I can't have both?”

“No! I wouldn't do that to her.”

“Do what to who?”

“To Mako!” Chuck looked confused, but Raleigh looked just as lost.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Chuck?”

“Do I really have to fucking...” He sighed. “You and Mako have something. Something strong enough to drift. You can't leave that for me, I won't let you.”

Raleigh still looked confused.

“What? Like... like cheat on her?”

“... yeah?” Chuck was unsure.

“You have to _be_ with someone to _cheat_ on someone, Chuck. Mako and I aren't together. We never were.”

“... oh.” The blush was returning to Chuck's face.

Raleigh shook his head and smiled, reaching over to gently wrap his hand around where Chuck's was resting on the bed.

“Ow, fuck!” Chuck pulled his hand away and cradled it close to his body.

“Shit, I'm sorry, I forgot! Why the fuck didn't you go get that fixed? It's probably broken!”

“It _is_ broken, but I had to make sure Mako had Max before I came over here.” He looked bashful as he looked down toward his hand.

“God dammit, I'm taking you to get a cast or something. Come on.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated, if there's something I can fix, let me know please!


End file.
